Quentin Tarantino, a man of his convictions, is deadset on only directing 10 films. For someone as talented and influential as him, purposefully cutting your career short is a puzzling decision, but it onlyadds to the mystique and demand for his rich vision.Ultimately, Tarantino knows more than us, and his self-imposed code has brought considerable anticipation to his 10th (if you countKill Billas one film) and final film–something that doesn’t even exist in the public eye. There was a time, not long ago, when the film community was cognizant of a broad outline of Tarantino’s swan song.The Movie Criticshaped up to be the capstone of a towering career, one that infused all of his interests as an artist and celebrity figure.Unfortunately, this was all a pipe dream, assources toldDeadline last April that Tarantino abandoned the project.Discussing the framework and creative potential ofThe Movie Criticis pure conjecture, but the vague story beats and ideas that leaked to the public offer a bold and ingenious unmade film that the public will mull over for years.
Quentin Tarantino Wants to Go Out on Top With His 10th and Final Film
For over a decade, Tarantino has assured the world that he wants to depart from filmmaking on a high note, and not falter in his later years. He hasinvoked the later years of classic Hollywood legends,Billy Wilderand his idol,Howard Hawks, as evidence that directors inevitably lose their fastball as they grow old. Even if his most recent film,Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, was aremarkable achievement and a sign of maturationand evolution on his part, Tarantino adopts the mindset of a professional athlete:at a certain age, his career will spiral drastically.His opinion hasn’t been affected by the likes ofMartin Scorsese,Steven Spielberg, andGeorge Millerstill operating at the top of their game into their 70s and 80s. Regardless, there is an ample amount of pressure on Tarantino to craft the perfect career send-off. As it turned out,The Movie Criticjust wasn’t going to cut it. The Deadlinereport stated that he “simply changed his mind.” Before production began, he reportedly rewrote the script.
Who Was ‘The Movie Critic’ About?
With no published script or treatment, there are only a handful of remnants of Tarantino’s abandoned project, all of whichwere compiled byThe Hollywood Reporterin a postmortem examination ofThe Movie Critic. From the get-go, the film, faithful to its working title, was going to follow a film critic in the ’70s, coinciding with New Hollywood, a formative era of filmmaking for Tarantino. Fans speculated that the film would be loosely inspired byPauline Kael, the legendaryNew Yorkerfilm critic and the voice of New Hollywood, but the director, who revered the critic,refuted this claim.In various public appearances, Tarantino left breadcrumbs on the subject of his final film. Leading up to pre-production, all signs pointed toThe Movie Critic’s titular protagonist being a critic for a fictional pornographic magazine.According to Tarantino, the critic was “based on a guy who really lived but was never really famous,” furtherdescribing him as “cynical as hell,“and a cross betweenHoward Sternand Travis Bickle ofTaxi Driver.
For cinephiles and film historians, this revelation by Tarantino opened the floodgates of speculation.CouldThe Movie Criticfollow the early life of Paul Schrader?The writer ofTaxi Driverand writer-director ofFirst Reformedwas a critic before forming a fruitful partnership with Martin Scorsese and creating the archetype of the lonely and disturbed manresorting to violence and self-destruction. Schrader, notorious for his off-color personality and haunted worldview, could shrewdly be described as “cynical,” as well as a provocateur in the manner of a shock jock like Howard Stern. Travis Bickle, played byRobert De Niro, may have been more autobiographical than one would like to imagine, as Schrader admitted tosleeping with a pistol under his pillowwhen writing the film in 1975.A character with violent tendencies who also appreciates the art of cinema feels like a fantasy conjured in Tarantino’s dreams, but Schrader is the closest thing to an embodiment of his interests. According to Schrader, another script of his from the 1970s,Rolling Thunder, would have been integrated intoThe Movie Critic. Tarantino, an avid fan of the 1977 film about a Vietnam veteran seeking vengeance, requested Schrader’s permission to shoot the original ending in Schrader’s script that was altered during filming, which he permitted.
The Mystery Surrounding the Subject and Cast of ‘The Movie Critic’
Casting forThe Movie Criticand its titular roleappeared to have reached a dead-endby the time the film was canceled, with Tarantino rarely confirming any reports of potential casting. However, all signs pointed toBrad Pittreuniting with the directorfollowing his Oscar-winning performance inOnce Upon a Time… in Hollywoodandreprising his role as Cliff Booth, the washed-up stunt double and possible murderer. There was an erroneous report thatPaul Walter Hauser, best known for his performance asRichard Jewellin the eponymousClint Eastwoodfilm, was offered the lead role, but a source close to the actor said “he was never involved.” The film community has longed for two of the most outspoken advocates of cinema, Tarantino andTom Cruise,to team up once and for all.The director’s swan song would seem like the ideal collaboration, but, despite the hopeful speculation, THRreported that Cruise never met with Tarantino.Olivia WildeandDavid Krumholtzwere reported as potential cast members in unspecified roles.
Quentin Tarantino, love him or hate him, is an iconoclast. He takes big artistic swings andmarches to the beat of his own drum. Before becoming a household name,he made extended universes fashionablea decade before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Red Apple, the fictional brand of cigarettes, appears frequently in his films. One of Tarantino’s notable abandoned projects was acrossover between Vincent and Vic Vega, the characters played byJohn TravoltainPulp FictionandMichael MadseninReservoir Dogs, respectively. InHollywood, there is a callback to Italian filmmakerAntonio Margheriti, an alias used byEli RothinInglourious Basterds. The ill-fatedMovie Criticteased perhaps the most ambitious and bold crossover yet. In his final film, Tarantino wouldpay tribute to his meta-verseby placing his earlier films in the same world asThe Movie Critic, as well as having actors from his previous films reprise their roles and subsequently interact with theMovie Critic’s universe. Reports cited that Travolta,Jamie Foxx, andMargot Robbiewere rumored to reprise their roles from the Tarantino-verse. If that wasn’t audacious enough, another idea featured “A movie theater where some characters couldpotentially interact with a budding future auteur–such as a 16-year-old Tarantino.“This storyline would ostensibly serve as an origin story for Tarantino, the most influential filmmaker of the last 30 years.
Why ‘The Movie Critic’ Would Have Been an Ideal Capstone to Quentin Tarantino’s Career
With his 10-movie rule, it’s no secret thatQuentin Tarantino wants to walk off into the sunset while on top.His 10th and final film has been a scrupulous process, with sources close to him claiming that he has “thrown away” scripts. Compared to notable examples of final films by other auteurs, including sweeping epics likeEyes Wide ShutbyStanley KubrickandOnce Upon a Time in AmericabySergio Leone, a film about a criticwould’ve been an inauspicious conclusion. For Tarantino,The Movie Critic, a glorified adaptation of his own 2022nonfiction film criticism book,Cinema Speculation,would distill his personality and all of his interests in one film–more so than any of his previous nine films. Since the release ofOnce Upon a Time…in Hollywood, Tarantino has emerged as a voice for cinephilia thanks to his book and podcast,Video Archives. Earlier in his career,Inglourious Basterdsfeatured, in a fitting expression of Tarantino’s sensibilities,a film critic-turned-British spy in World War II, played byMichael Fassbender.
For passionate Tarantino fans, this is an exciting prospect, but for those more skeptical,The Movie Criticcomes off as the most self-indulgent vanity project imaginable. Either way, the abandoned film would’ve been eternallyfascinating and a sincere expression of Tarantino, whose films are defined by characters talking about other movies and facets of pop culture. For an undisclosed reason,Tarantino lost inspiration inThe Movie Criticand is pursuing better things. At the very least, whatever he has in store will not fade away quietly.
Tarantino’s most recent film,Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is now available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
